Parkland grad Andre Williams has rough day against Eagles, but pleased with rookie season overall

NFL: Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants

Brad Penner, Reuters Photo

New York Giants running back Andre Williams (left), a Parkland High School graduate, tries to get to the outside against Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cary Williams (26) during the second quarter at MetLife Stadium.

New York Giants running back Andre Williams (left), a Parkland High School graduate, tries to get to the outside against Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cary Williams (26) during the second quarter at MetLife Stadium. (Brad Penner, Reuters Photo)

Keith GrollerOf The Morning Call

How did Andre Williams feel about his first season in the NFL?

E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Andre Williams stood by himself at his MetLife Stadium locker early Sunday night with shoes, towels, and other stuff scattered around him.

For Williams, it was probably nice not to be surrounded by Eagles for one of the few times all day.

Williams, the Giants rookie running back from Parkland High School and Boston College, didn't have much daylight in the regular-season finale against Philadelphia.

The Eagles stuffed the box and Williams, limiting him to 43 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown in the Giants' 34-26 loss.

And yet, while the loss ended New York's season at 6-10 and allowed the Eagles to finish with a hollow 10-6 mark, there was an air of optimism in the Giants locker room.

New York had entered Sunday's game with a three-game winning streak and only a blocked punt and several questionable penalties might have been the difference in the loss to the Eagles.

This was at least a much more entertaining, competitive game than the 27-0 defeat at Philadelphia on Oct. 12 that began the seven-game skid that defined the season for the Giants.

"It was a tough game, and we did some good and bad things, but at least we didn't lay a goose egg against them this time," Williams said. "We put points on the board and it was a very competitive game. I'm proud of the way we went out. We needed to play a cleaner game to get the win, but there's always next year."

Williams, who finished his first NFL season with 721 yards on 217 carries (both team highs) and seven touchdowns, felt he made plenty of progress since making his pro debut in an exhibition game in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 3.

"My growth has been exponential," he said. "They said coming out of the draft that I couldn't catch the ball coming out of the backfield. I'm proud of my 18 catches [for 130 yards] and I'm going to continue to work on catching the ball. My vision got better, my patience got better, and I feel like I'm a different runner than I was at the beginning of the year."

Williams said he'd like to take a couple of months off to rest his body after the longest season of his football career.

"I just want to maintain my level of conditioning and get my body right so that I can make it through another season," he said.

He, like many Giants fans, is eager to see what happens next. It could be a couple of wild and crazy couple days in New York with the ax about to fall on coaches even before the big ball drops in Times Square Wednesday night.

The Giants' postgame interviews were peppered with questions surrounding head coach Tom Coughlin's status as well as the rest of the staff, which includes Bethlehem Catholic graduate Ryan Roeder as an offensive assistant.

As for Williams, he would like things to remain the same, but understands the business better than most.

"I love my organization and I have good relations with everyone in the program," Williams said. "I would love to come back to the same thing and continue to build on what we started this year.

"But I've already seen it at the college level that coaches come and go. I don't think it's necessary for our organization. I don't think that's the answer. But if that ends up being the situation, it is what it is."

The Giants offense seemed to be a work in progress as it got accustomed to new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo.

However, over their final six games of the season the Giants didn't score fewer than 24 points.

And points aside, the Giants possess the most electrifying young player in the game in rookie receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who torched the Eagles for 12 catches and 185 yards. He finished his first season with 91 catches for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns — both Giants rookie records.

Remember, too, that Beckham missed the first four games of the year.

Williams has a front-row seat to watching the NFL's newest human highlight-reel take flight.

"Odell is an amazing player and brings a skill set that's not easily matched," Williams said. "He has some room to grow in terms of athletic ability and maturity, but he's an awesome player who is exciting to watch. He keeps the fans loud and that helps with momentum during the game.

"With him and Victor [Cruz, out since the first Eagles game with an injury] and Rueben on the field at the same time, I think we have something special."

Of course, Williams is something special in his own right.

Coughlin, quarterback Eli Manning and veteran running back Rashad Jennings have all expressed their praise for last year's Heisman Trophy finalist, who is already looking to the future and a life beyond football.

He has a patent on a compression shirt with a shoulder stabilizing apparatus that he's hoping to pitch to Under Armour.

"I'm moving into the prototype phase of that right now and hopefully next year that will be something I use to facilitate my running style and protect my shoulders," Williams said. "I was at the NFL's rookie symposium and Aeneas Williams delivered a message that stuck with me.

"He said that you should begin your career with the ending in mind. I was always a big-picture thinker, but that really resonated with me. That's how I look at life. I want to begin with the ending in mind because you never know when the last stop is and you have to get as far as you can before it's over."